The Golden Age
by Whakamol
Summary: Spider-Man has a one heck of a future ahead of him. If he only knew the exact details, he would probably get out of the superhero game as fast as he could. Thankfully for us, he doesn't, and now has to deal with a changing world as he faces off against the megacorp Roxxon and a whole host of new super-spooks. Oh, and high-school life? Don't even get started on that.


Peter Parker, student, photographer, and all around nice guy, just happened to be the civilian identity of the much lauded and much demonized superhero we all know and love, the Spectacular Spider-Man.

But you probably knew that already.

Do you remember when we saw Peter last? He had just defeated Norman Osborne aka The Green Goblin, a crazed maniac who just happened to be a father figure to Peter and the actual father of his best friend, Harry Osborne. Harry had sworn vengeance against Spider-Man while stealing away Gwen Stacy, the girl of Peter's dreams, right when they were about to get together.

I could go on, but you get the point. Peter's life was in a stage of major suckage.

So of course it had to get worse.

Peter sighed and plopped his lunch tray down on the table. He glanced over at Liz. She had pointedly ignored him all day, and he couldn't blame her. The whole situation sucked.

"Hey Tiger, are you all right?"

He turned to see Mary Jane Watson take a seat across from him, a look of concern on her face. A very pretty girl with fiery red hair and an equally fiery personality, Peter considered himself lucky to be able to count her as one of his close friends. Harry and Gwen had not talked to him except in passing since they began dating. Peter guessed that Harry wanted to make sure that everyone, including Peter, understood that Gwen was dating Harry. Not that the enforced isolation was an entirely bad thing. Peter couldn't imagine how unbearably awkward it would be as the third-wheel in that relationship. His insides seemed to scrunch up when he thought about it. But thankfully MJ was still talking to him. Score one for team Parker.

"I've been better," he answered, stirring the mashed potatoes and idly wondering whether the lunch lady was trying to poison the student body with this crap.

"I heard you broke up with Liz," Mary Jane said cautiously.

"I did. It didn't go very well," he said, examining a forkful of potatoes. With a shrug he ate it, swallowing the tasteless mush before taking another forkful.

"I see Gwen is still dating Harry," she said. Peter stopped eating and looked at her. She had the courtesy to look guilty at least.

"I knew you guys were planning on getting together," she admitted, "Gwen told me."

"Oh."

She hesitated before reaching forward to touch his hand with her own, "What went wrong?"

For a moment he thought about lying, or just telling her to drop it, but instead he answered truthfully, "Everything. Everything went wrong."

"What do you mean?"

"After Harry's dad died in…in the accident, well, let's just say he hasn't been doing well. Gwen was worried that he might do something to hurt himself if she broke up with him now. He's under a lot of stress."

"Oh," she said. Then her eyes narrowed, "Is that what Harry said?" If Peter had to guess, she seemed sceptical.

Peter sighed, realizing where she was going with this. "Look MJ…"

"Peter, can't you see he's playing you guys?" she said in exasperation.

"Mary Jane," said Pete, setting his fork down and growing serious, "Harry isn't perfect, far from it. But who is? He's been my best friend for a long time, and he stuck by me in some tough spots. I'm not going to hurt him."

She stared at him for a few seconds before she spoke again, her voice insistent, "I get it. I really do. But…look Peter, Harry might be a good guy. But you're a _great _guy, one of the best. And Gwen is a great girl. You two were meant for each other."

Peter was taken aback by the boldness of the statement. "Uh, I don't really know what to say."

"I'm serious, Peter. Any girl would be lucky to date you."

He glanced over at Liz, who was talking with her friend, the bratty and spoiled Sally Avril. "I really screwed it up with Liz, didn't I?"

"Maybe. Probably," shrugged MJ, following his gaze, "but you can't worry about that now. What's done is done." She raised a glass of milk to her lips and drank.

"I guess you're right," he said, turning back to her, "So do you want to go to a movie tonight?"

Surprised, she lowered her glass, "What?"

"I didn't really have any particular movie in mind, but I need something to do," Peter said, "and I don't want to be a loser and go by myself. And there is no way I'm going with Gwen and Harry, not now."

She smiled, "Okay, I'll go. But," she added, raising a finger, her tone serious, "No commitments, just the two of us having fun ."

Peter laughed, "Sounds perfect. I'll pick the movie."

She couldn't help but smile. Peter had that effect on her. It felt good.

"It's a deal, Tiger."

"Well," said Peter as they neared Mary Jane's house, "Thanks for the night."

"No, thank you, mister Parker," said MJ, "That was a lot of fun."

"I wish I would have picked a different movie," said Peter.

"Yeah," she agreed, "but who would have guessed a movie about two spies trying to kill each other would actually turn out to be a romantic comedy?"

"I agree."

"Did all the kissy-kissy hanky-panky make you feel awkward?" she teased.

"No," he said, "I am pretty sure the whole movie was terrible."

"So you're sure it wasn't the kissing?"

He laughed, "Okay, you got me."

Mary Jane stopped suddenly. "Wait," she said, looking into the darkness. Peter tried to find what she was looking for. After a moment she shook her head. "I must be seeing things."

"Maybe," said Peter doubtfully. For a minute they stood there. It was more than a little chilly. Finally Peter touched MJ's shoulder. "Should we get going?" he said.

"Yeah, we had better," said Mary Jane, turning to him, "but not quite yet." Before he could respond, her arms were around his neck and her face inches away from his own.

"Buh-what?" was all he could manage.

"Just go with it, tiger."

The kiss itself was short and sweet, but oh was it glorious. He flushed furiously when she pulled away. "I'm confused," he muttered.

She laughed, "It's fun, Pete. Don't think about it too much."

He didn't know what to say, so he said nothing. He realized that at some point his arms had found their way around her waist. She didn't seem to mind.

She looked into his eyes for a long, perfect moment, before she looked down. Now it was her face glowing red. "Oh my god," she mumbled, pushing away and crossing her arms.

"Mary Jane…" said Peter. He reached out and took her hand.

"I'm an idiot. Gwen would kill me right now," she said.

"Gwen's dating Harry," said Peter.

"She wants to be dating you," she said, her voice sullen. Peter sighed inwardly, running a mental checklist of things he could say to save the moment.

"MJ, remember when we went to the dance together?" he said at last.

"Yes," she said, meeting his eyes.

"I was totally in love with you," he said earnestly.

"I kind of noticed," she said, smiling slightly.

"You shot me down the very next day."

She winced, "What are you getting at?"

"I'm used to that kind of thing. It's the Parker luck. And I've learned to deal with it." She looked confused. "What I am saying is that your luck…your luck has been pretty lousy too. You can't afford to worry so much. Sometimes you need to take care of your own life. If something makes you happy, don't sweat it." He squeezed her hand reassuringly.

He seemed to have said the right thing, because she relaxed and her smile grew. "Thanks Tiger."

"Don't worry about it," he said. They started walking again.

"That was a very nice kiss by the way," said Mary Jane after a while.

"Oh yeah?" he said, looking at her. She just smiled slyly and took his arm, pulling herself against him as they walked.

It wasn't long before they arrived in front of her home. As they walked up the steps and onto the front porch, Mary Jane turned to face Peter. They were now standing in front of the door, and Mary Jane was looking at him, clearly waiting for something.

Peter breathed in deeply. Now was as the time to say what was on his mind. "If you want to," he said, "we could do this again some time."

"I would love to," she said with a smile. They stood there for what could have been forever, before she turned to open the door.

"Mary Jane," he said, suddenly feeling anxious.

"Yes?" she said, turning back to him. He didn't wait. He stepped forward and pulled her into another kiss.

It was her turn to be surprised, her green eyes growing wide, but it didn't last long. She melted into the kiss, and gave as good as she got.

It lasted a lot longer than the last kiss. After a long while, they pulled apart, their faces flushed, hearts pounding.

"Wow," she breathed.

"Consider that paybacks," he said.

She laughed, "Do you really want to go down that road?"

"I might," said Peter, before he added, "I'll call you."

"You had better."

He smiled, "Good night MJ."

"Good night Peter," she said before opening the door and stepping inside.

He stood there for a second, more elated then he ever would have expected. He felt a grin spread across his face uncontrollably, and he turned and walked down the sidewalk, a bounce in his step. It was hard to believe a day that had started with so little promise had ended so well.

Things were looking up.


End file.
